1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a food composite capable of performing an action of reducing insulin secretion without influence on blood glucose level.
2. Description of Prior Art
Increase of blood glucose after eating meals results in secretion of insulin. Because of recent progress in food refining processes and a preference for favorite taste, there is a tendency for the people in European and American countries to take in much sugar and fat. Thus, the rate of occurrence of non-infectious diseases such as obesity, diabetes, arteriosclerosis is now extremely high due to excessive intake of nutrition and resultant excessive secretion of insulin. Also in Japan, there is a recent trend that the rate of occurrence of the aforementioned diseases has sharply increased with the westernization in meals.
Hitherto, several materials acting on the autonomous nervous system have been well known. For example, as a stimulant for .alpha.-receptor in sympathetic nerves such materials as epinephirine, norepinephirine have been well known for performing a function of inhibiting insulin secretion. And as an interceptor for .alpha.-receptor in the sympathetic nerve, such materials as propanol and dopaserotonin have been well known for performing the same function.
Other than the foregoing, sugar metabolism inhibition materials such as 2-deoxyglucose and mannoheptulose, somatostatin and Ca2 antagonist also perform the function of inhibiting insulin secretion.
A problem, however, exists in that most of these materials, belonging to a group of powerful medicines specified in the Japanese "Drugs Cosmetics and Medical Instruments Law", are prohibited to be employed as food additives.
Furthermore, it has been generally said that water-soluble dietary fibers typically represented by guar gum and pectin are useful for saving insulin secretion because of inhibition of an increase of blood glucose. It is, however, also said that these fibers have a disadvantage of giving negative effects on adsorption of useful metals due to their high viscosity. Such high viscosity brings about a further disadvantage of making it difficult to intake them in a large quantity and, as a result, uses of these fibers are quite limited.
As noted above, westernization and diversification of meals have taken place also in Japan increasingly. Paticularly, with the improvement in refining techniques of foods, occurrence of non-infectious diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and arteriosclerosis have been increasing due to excessive intake of nutrition, in particular, due to disorder in sugar metabolism caused thereby. In the prior art, materials performing an effect of lowering blood glucose such as various polysaccharides including guar gum, a devil's-tongue mannan, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitor have been conventionally employed for the purpose of prevention and remedy of the aforementioned diseases. On the other hand, it is known to those skilled in the art that the increment of insulin secretion is in proportion to the amount of increase in blood glucose value per unit time in the early stage, while being in proportion to the total amount of sugar content ingested in the late stage. Further, the blood glucose value after ingestion, particularly the highest blood sugar value is not always correlated with the amount of sugar content ingested. Furthermore, it has been recognized that change in blood glucose value is one of the important factors to determine the start and finish of a meal and deeply related to the adjustment of every meal amount in rather short time.
When considering the aforesaid knowledges, reduction in insulin secretion without affecting on the blood glucose level, in other words, without disturbing the physiology of eating behavior, is very significant not only for the prevention of obesity, and inhibition of transition from the pre-stage of diabetes to the obvious diabetes, but also for the inhibition of fat build-up caused by insulin in arteriosclerosis. Moreover, desired to exhibit/certain useful effects for the prevention from the diseases in general in such a manner as to reduce harmful actions brought about by insulin. From the mentioned quite novel point of view, the inventors have come to conceive an idea of developing a material capable of performing an advantage reducing the insulin secretion without negatively affecting the blood glucose level in both human and animal bodies.
On the basis of such a new concept, the inventors have further come to an attempt of materializing the novel idea in order to assure the advantage of reducing the mentioned insulin secretion utilizing pyrodextrin that has hardly been considered as food material, thus developing a food composite performing the mentioned effect.